The Little Pink Bottle
by Lady Emily
Summary: Instead of bringing him to Slughorn, Ron's friends try to help him shake the effects of Romilda Vane's love potion... Hermione is particularly helpful.
1. Dazedness

A/N: Hi all, welcome to this silly little two-shot I wrote... Takes place on Ron's birthday in sixth year, when he accidentally takes Romilda's love potion. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Co.

* * *

><p>"Hermione!"<p>

Hermione looked up, surprised, as Ron Weasley flopped down next to her on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. She was surprised for two reasons: 1) she and Ron hadn't exactly been on speaking terms for weeks now, since he had begun 'dating' the beautiful and cloying Lavender Brown, and 2) he was wearing the stupidest look she had ever seen on his face. "Yes, Ronald?" she said coolly, setting her half-finished potions essay on the table in front of her.

"Have you seen her anywhere?" Ron asked her in a tone that somehow managed to be both desperately serious and completely spacey at the same time.

"Have I seen _who_, Ronald?" Hermione asked haughtily, annoyed. He could ignore her for weeks on end, but as soon as he needed something from her he came running back. A little too far back, in fact, she thought as she scooted away from him slightly. In his excitement he was rather invading her personal space.

Not that she _really _minded, if she was honest with herself...

"_Her_." Ron said, an odd sense of worship in his tone that he usually saved for the food at the Halloween feast or the latest model of racing broom. "_Romilda._"

Hermione blinked, doing a mental double-take. "Romilda?" she repeated. She only knew one Romilda, Romilda Vane, who like them was in Gryffindor house... but she couldn't ever recall hearing Ron even mention her name before, let alone speak to the girl.

"Romilda _Vane_." Ron elaborated impatiently. "I _need_ her, Hermione."

"What... what do you need to speak to Romilda for?" Hermione asked, curious despite herself. Ron was acting _very_ oddly.

"Not even to speak to her..." Ron said with a little sigh. "Just to _look _at her. Just to be in the same _room_ with her..." He put a hand on Hermione's shoulder and told her seriously. "_I'm in love with her_."

Hermione was caught somewhere between laughter and unbridled shock. "_What?_" she finally managed to get out. "That's very funny, Ronald."

"_It's not funny!_" Ron roared, causing Hermione to jump back, startled. "I _love _her."

"Forgotten about your precious Lavender already, then?" Hermione sniffed, hurt and angered by his outburst.

"Who?" Ron said cluelessly.

Before Hermione could say anything more Harry came rushing down from the boys' dormitories, heading straight for them. With shock, she realized that one of his eyes was watering and that a reddening bruise was beginning to form on his cheekbone. "Harry!" she cried. "What happened to you?"

Harry raised his eyebrows and tilted his head towards Ron, who said, "He _laughed_ at Romilda!" Just saying her name seemed to cause Ron to swoon, and he fell back onto the couch, sighing.

"And you _hit_ him?" Hermione hissed, horrified. Ron didn't answer, didn't even seem to hear her, instead staring dreamily into space.

Harry took Hermione's arm and pulled her to the side. "He accidentally ate those Chocolate Cauldrons Romilda gave me." he said.

Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth. "Love potion!" she gasped, remembering the rumor she'd heard before Christmas that Romilda was ready to use any means necessary to snag the Boy Who Lived. "I can't believe she actually tried to give you a love potion! I can't believe-" she gasped again. "Harry, she gave you those _months _ago!"

"I know," Harry said guiltily. "I meant to throw them away, I guess I just forg-"

"No," Hermione interrupted urgently. "I meant that love potions generally grow stronger over time. That's why it's affecting him so badly!"

"Ah, I wondered why she'd want me to act like such a drooling idiot..." Harry said, and they both looked over at Ron, who was, indeed, beginning to drool a little. "So what do we do? Find Romilda and make her reverse it?"

Hermione bit her lip. "She probably won't be able to. I doubt she made the potion herself, she probably doesn't have a clue how it works."

"Well we have to do _something_." Harry said, touching his still-darkening bruise tenderly. "Dealing with him when he's like this is no joke."

"That's it!" Hermione cried suddenly. "Joke! _They_ were the ones selling those potions!"

"What?" Harry asked, but Hermione simply turned and fled up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Ginny emerged from the stairway a minute later, looking backwards in confusion.

"What's going on?" she asked Harry. "Hermione nearly bowled me over on the stairs."

Harry sighed wearily and gestured to Ron, who had picked up Hermione's quill and begun writing "Mrs. Romilda Weasley" in all the margins of her potions essay. "Love potion."

Ginny's expression was halfway between amusement and concern. "Well, it'll wear off, won't it?"

"We don't know." Harry said. "The potion was a few months old, and that apparently makes them really strong. Hermione's had an idea though, she- Oh, here she comes."

Hermione rushed back into the common room, a little pink bottle clutched triumphantly in her fist. "I knew I still had it!"

Ginny and Harry shared a look of disbelief. "Why do _you_ have a love potion?" Harry asked.

Hermione blushed. "Fred and George gave me a bunch of free stuff last time I was at the shop, to make up for all the trouble they caused me testing their products here. Of course, I was never going to _use_ this!"

"They were probably hoping _you'd_ be the one to use it on Ron." Ginny teased, causing Hermione to redden even further.

"Not likely." she sniffed. "I just wanted to have a look at the instructions, see if it says anything about reversing the effects."

"Yeah, Fred and George really seem like the type to give you all the information up front." Harry said dryly, and Hermione glared at him.

"Do you have a better idea?" she asked. When he was silent, she unrolled the scroll that had come attached to the neck of the bottle. A small flood of tiny heart-shaped bubbles floated off the parchment and floated around her head, bursting at random intervals. "_'So you want your sweetheart to find you enchanting...'_" she read out loud, rolling her eyes. "Honestly." She turned her attention back to the scroll and read the rest silently, moving her lips and furrowing her brow in concentration.

"Find anything?" Ginny asked nervously, as Ron had gotten up and was banging his head against the doorframe that led to the girls' dormitories, chanting, "Ro_milllll_da" in a low, cracking voice.

Hermione bit her lip again. "It does warn that the potions should be used within two weeks of being bought, or you risk the potion fermenting and becoming exponentially stronger."

"Yes, I think we'd already figured that out." Harry said.

"Well, does it talk about any weird side-effects?" Ginny asked.

"'Side effects may include nausea, awkwardness, embarrassment, humiliation, and mono.'" Hermione read. She flipped the parchment over. "Oh, wait! Look here." She scanned it quickly. "It says... it says that the potion should wear off on its own, but it can be countered by a hate potion, or a love potion antidote. _'Please allow six to eight weeks for shipping.'_"

"If you have to use the love potion within two weeks how can you wait six for the antidote?" Harry asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "That'll be the twins' idea of a joke."

"'Caution:'" Hermione read the final note slowly and thoughtfully. "'The effects of your love potion may also be terminated by... true love.'"

"Er... what?" Harry asked, rubbing his neck uncomfortably.

"Oh!" Ginny cried suddenly, clapping her hands over her mouth. "They told me about that! That's why they said you shouldn't bother-! I mean, they said that... that love potions aren't as strong as real love, so the potion stops working if the person is faced with their true feelings!" She looked at Harry, blushed scarlet, and turned quickly to Hermione. "Ron doesn't really love Romilda, so he could kiss her all he wants and the potion would keep working. For it to stop, he has to be kissed by someone he _actually_ loves. If he really loved Romilda, the potion wouldn't work for her."

"If he really loved her, she wouldn't need it." Harry pointed out, and for some reason Ginny blushed again. "I mean... if _I _really loved her, I guess." he added ruefully, remembering that the potion had been meant for him in the first place.

Hermione paled, but she scoffed. "True love's kiss? I really would have expected a little more creativity from Fred and George."

"It's not uncreative, it's just a fact of life." Ginny defended. "They would have done away with that little snag if they could. They're very professional like that."

There was a thump as Ron tried to race up the stairs to the girls' rooms and the stairs, as usual, became a chute and dumped him back into the common room. "Ro_milllll_da." he called mournfully.

Hermione sighed. "Well, I guess we'd better go find Lavender, before Ron hurts himself."

"Speak of the devil." Harry muttered as the portrait hole opened and Lavender Brown appeared, just as if Hermione had Summoned her.

"Won-Won!" she cried, spotting Ron on the floor, rubbing his bruised elbows. "What happened? Are you hurt?" She fell to her knees beside him, but he only looked at her blankly.

"He's fine." Hermione spoke up, stepping forward. "But he's having a bit of an issue-"

Lavender, who had tensed up at the sound of Hermione's voice, rose to her full height confrontationally. "Oh, _is_ he?" she said.

"He accidentally took a love potion." Ginny explained quickly, seeing that there was no love lost between the two girls. "But we think-"

"Oh, _accidentally_?" Lavender repeated, her eyes narrowing at Hermione, then moving to the bottle Hermione still held. She gasped, pointing at the bottle. "You! How _dare_ you try to steal my boyfriend!"

"It wasn't Hermione!" Harry stood up for her. "It was-"

"Ro_milllllll_da." Ron moaned again.

"This bottle is _full_, if you'll notice." Hermione said coldly, placing the bottle on the table. "In any case, Ron needs a kiss from someone he loves to make-"

"Oh!" Lavender cried, looking happier than was really called for. "Come on then, Won-Won..." She threw herself into his arms, standing on tiptoe to reach around his neck.

Ron dropped her unceremoniously, causing her to stumble backward several steps. "What are you doing? No! You're not her!"

Lavender's lip wobbled. "But-"

"I love her!" Ron reminded them all.

"But Ron, she only wanted to kiss you goodbye, since she knows you'll be going with Romilda when she gets here." Ginny spoke up, thinking quickly.

"Oh." Ron said thickly. "Wait... Romilda's coming? When?"

"Soon." Ginny assured him. "Now let Lavender say goodbye."

"Oh, all right." Ron said, plainly completely uninterested in Lavender. He held out his arms but his eyes remained locked on the portrait hole, as if Romilda would be coming through any moment. Lavender stepped into them, catching Ron's head between her hands and pulling his lips down to meet hers.

Hermione looked away, knowing from experience exactly what Ron and Lavender looked like when they kissed. The couple separated with a loud pop, and Lavender gazed up at Ron adoringly. "How do you feel, sweetie?" she asked in a sugary voice.

Ron blinked. "Fine." he said. "Goodbye then." He turned to Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. "Where's Romilda?"

There was a long, tense moment of silence.

Lavender whimpered and whirled on the spot, only making it halfway up the staircase before she burst into tears. Ginny barely held back a giggle. "I want to feel bad for the girl, but... I just _can't._" she confessed.

Hermione had never liked Ginny more. "Lavender is rather annoying, isn't she?"

"And she's all wrong for Ron." Ginny added, smiling slyly at Hermione. "I mean, look, he doesn't even love her."

"Well, maybe the potion's just too strong for the kiss thing to work." Hermione said fairly. "I mean, it's months old."

Harry looked uneasy, probably still feeling guilty that he hadn't thrown Romilda's Cauldrons away months ago. "I think we should take him to Madam Pomfrey."

Hermione nodded. "I think you're right."

"Oi, Ron!" Ginny said loudly, managing to get his attention away from the portrait hole. "Did you hear that Romilda's in the Hospital Wing?"

Ron's jaw hung open. "Is she hurt?" he asked fearfully.

"Yep." Ginny said cheerfully, hooking her arm through his. "C'mon, big brother, let's go visit her." Then she yelped as Ron, clearly unsatisfied with the pace they were going, began dragging her across the common room.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance and made to follow, but Harry reached out a hand and stopped her. "You better not leave that in the common room." he said, pointing to the little pink bottle. "Who knows where it might end up, and it's even older than Romilda's."

"Good thinking." Hermione said, and slipped the bottle into the pocket of her robes.

* * *

><p>"Not to worry, not to worry." Madam Pomfrey said reassuringly. "The antidote's brewing, it'll be done in half an hour or so."<p>

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione exchanged looks of relief. "Thank you." Hermione said gratefully.

"I've been seeing more and more love potions these days." Madam Pomfrey said, bustling around them to take an empty tray off of a sleeping patient's nightstand. "I blame your brothers for that." she told Ginny.

Ginny shrugged, unable to hide the fact that she was at least a little proud of Fred and George. "I guess they saw a market for them..."

"Well they should see about putting some kind of preservative in them." Madam Pomfrey said. "So we don't see things like _this _happening." She nodded her head to indicate the bed where Ron was sleeping. He'd become so distraught upon realizing that Romilda was not in the Hospital Wing that Madam Pomfrey had had to give him a Calming Drought.

"I'll suggest that to them." Ginny said, to Hermione's dismay. She would, too.

"I wish you wouldn't encourage them, Ginny." she said. "Love potions can be dangerous. And- and they're invasive. It must be disorienting to suddenly find yourself in love with someone you've never met! Ron's going to be so embarrassed when he realizes how he's acted. You- you shouldn't mess with a person's feelings like that."

"Oh, it's all in good fun." Ginny waved her off. "Fred and George's stuff isn't really dangerous. And Ron knows we know it wasn't his fault."

"Yeah, it was mine." Harry said miserably. "I knew Romilda was trying to slip me a love potion; I should have got rid of those chocolates as soon as she gave them to me."

"For Merlin's sake, Harry, stop blaming yourself!" Ginny said, nudging him a little with her shoulder. "Not everything that goes wrong in the wizarding world is your fault, you know."

Hermione's eyes—and thoughts—wandered to Ron as her friends continued to talk. This morning she and Ron hadn't been speaking. Would they still be at odds when he was cured?

She almost smiled to herself. They would always be at odds. The real question was, would they be friends again? She really, _really_ hoped they would. For all their fighting and bickering, she truly missed him when they weren't talking to one another. She couldn't help feeling that Lavender had usurped her place in Ron's life. Where he used to spend time with her and Harry, he now spent it sucking face with his girlfriend... Maybe that was why seeing Lavender fail to cure him made her feel so good.

"Hermione?"

She was broken from her reverie by Ginny and Harry saying her name simultaneously. "Sorry, yes?" she apologized.

"We're supposed to leave." Ginny said. "But Madam Pomfrey asked if one of us would stay to help administer the antidote, when it's time."

"Oh." Hermione hadn't even heard Madam Pomfrey speak. "Okay then." She took a few steps toward the door but Ginny stopped her.

"Would you stay, Hermione?"

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Me? But Ron and I aren't even-"

"Ginny said she's got some bruise remover for my eye." Harry spoke up. "It really hurts."

Hermione shot him a look that said _Harry-James-Potter-I-know-what-you're-up-to-but-I'll-let-you-get-away-with-it-this-time._ The day when brave and silent Harry Potter would complain that a _bruise _was paining him—and a bruise _Ron_ gave him, no less... She could argue, but it wasn't worth making a scene in the Hospital Wing... especially when a large part of her _wanted_ to stay. "All right, I'll stay." She turned her back to avoid having to see the knowing looks on their faces.

She sat on the chair next to Ron's bed, ready to wait for Madam Pomfrey to finish the antidote. _Should've brought a book_, she thought dimly... there was really nothing else to do but sit here and stare at him. And worry.

It was only a love potion, true, but seeing him lying still in a hospital bed called to mind some of her worst memories, and a few of her worst dreams. No matter if he had been acting like a prat, she never wanted to see him end up here. And you could never be sure, until the antidote was given, whether it would work, whether everything would truly be okay again. Biting her lip, she lifted her hand and rested it gently over his.

It was a good thing he'd offended Lavender earlier, Hermione thought. _If she walked in and saw me here she'd probably breathe fire._ She'd never understood that Hermione was Ron's best friend, and that that meant _more_ than a bit of snogging and a few horrible mushy Christmas presents. If anyone had the right to be here, it should be Hermione, really. Ginny was family, obviously, and Harry was as good as, but Hermione had been through so much with Ron, even if they did fight sometimes.

"Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey called from across the room.

Hermione yanked her hand back guiltily, blushed, and replaced it over his.

"See if you can wake him. The potion's about ready." Madam Pomfrey instructed, and Hermione nodded although the healer was no longer watching her.

She shook his hand gently. "Ron..." she murmured.

He stirred, and his eyelashes fluttered, but he didn't wake. Hermione worried her lip with her teeth as she leaned closer. She'd never noticed how light Ron's eyelashes were before. Suddenly, an impulse seized her, and without fighting it, without even questioning it, she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

His lips were dry and soft, and when she pulled back his eyes were open, blinking at her in confusion. "Whuh- huh? Hermione, what just happened?" he croaked. His voice was hoarse, but his eyes were clear and alert.

"Ready to take this for me, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked, appearing at the foot of the bed with a goblet of steaming pink potion. She frowned at the confused-looking pair. "Well Mr. Weasley, you look a bit better."

Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth in shock and embarrassment, pushing herself back from the bed. Her chair toppled over on its back as she scrambled out of it and ran for the Hospital Wing doors, nearly knocking over a startled Madam Pomfrey on her way out.

* * *

><p>AN: Please review, and I'll be sure to post the second part as soon as I can! By the way, you should find me on Pottermore- I'm RainEye45.


	2. Clarity

Since he was so tall, Ron had no trouble following Hermione's bushy head through the school corridors... unfortunately, this also made it easy to see him coming, a particularly useful tool for his best female friend, since she seemed to spend all her time avoiding him these days.

Their eyes met for a moment as she glanced behind her nervously before ducking around a corner and into the sanctuary of the library. Ron almost growled in frustration.

It had been four days since The Incident (as Ginny had taken to calling it), and he hadn't spoken to Hermione since. Things were rocky with Lavender too, (In an effort to protect Ron from his girlfriend's wrath, Ginny had posed to her Hermione's theory about the love potion being too strong for Lavender's kiss to work, but she had only seemed slightly mollified.) but Ron couldn't really find it in himself to care. Truthfully, things with Lavender had been over since before they began. While he'd been initially flattered by her interest in him, he knew now that he'd never had real romantic feelings for her; certainly nothing that could be described as _true love_.

Of course, neither Lavender nor Ginny knew what had happened that day in the Hospital Wing. If they had, Lavender would have dumped him for sure. Ginny probably wouldn't have believed it. _Ron _barely believed it.

The curse of the love potion wasn't only that it made the drinker do stupid (and sometimes dangerous) things, it was that once the potion wore off, the drinker was left with the crystal clear memories of the way he had acted under its influence. And that meant that while Ron's memories of the way he had acted that night were enough to make his ears go red with embarrassment, it _also_ meant that he could remember, in absolute detail, the moment when Hermione's lips had met his.

When she'd kissed him he'd been half-asleep, not even aware of her presence, but the effect it had had on his confused and lovesick mind had been something akin to sunlight burning away the fog in his brain. He remembered opening his eyes and being utterly stunned by what he saw, Hermione's smooth skin, the dark fringes of her eyelashes. When she'd pulled away, blushing and stuttering, Ron's first thought was that he might have dreamed the whole thing.

_But Madam Pomfrey never gave him the antidote._

Since he retained his memories of the entire Incident, Ron knew exactly what that meant. Hadn't he been right there in the common room as Hermione and Ginny explained that only the kiss of someone he had _true feelings_ for could halt the potion's effects?

It wasn't entirely surprising to Ron, at least, not once he'd gotten his head on straight. He'd suspected that he might feel more than friendship for Hermione the moment she'd walked into the Yule Ball on the arm of Victor Krum, looking so incredibly _perfect_ that Ron had suffered an agonizing knot of jealousy in his stomach for the rest of the night. After that, the signs had begun adding up. The way he'd barely minded cleaning for hours in Grimmauld Place two summers ago as long as she was talking and laughing beside him. The way he'd woken in the Hospital Wing after the Department of Mysteries last year in pain and panicking, until he'd seen her, awake and watching him, from the next bed. The way his bitterness about the Slug Club had melted into hope when she'd invited him to the Christmas party. Yes, he'd been in love with Hermione Granger for a long time.

Only now, she knew it.

That was the part that turned Ron's stomach. She had to have known, had to have seen it in his eyes when the love spell was broken... but why did she run? Was it because she didn't return his feelings—the feelings that potions lore actually referred to as _true love—_and she couldn't bear to tell him? Or perhaps she was ashamed to admit that she had feelings for him too; after all, Hermione could have that smarmy (admittedly handsome) git McLaggen whenever she wanted. She could have International Quidditch star Viktor Krum... she could probably have _Harry_. Why would she want him, Ron, in the first place?

But if that was true,_ why had she kissed him?_

Ron couldn't figure it out, and although he was finally ready to swallow his pride and just _ask_ her, it seemed she wasn't ready to be asked. She spent most of her time locked away in the girls' dormitories over the past few days, and when she wasn't she sat as far from him as possible during their shared classes, never ate in the Great Hall while he was eating, and practically ran in the other direction when she spotted him in the corridors.

Leaning against the wall opposite the library doors, a surge of determination burned through him and he entered the library, voluntarily, for the first time since he'd taken his O.W.L.s. The place was silent, as usual, the air smelling of dust and old books, the lighting oddly dim for a place where students were expected to _read_.

Ron headed for the back of the library, passing bookshelf after bookshelf and peering down each row as he passed, looking for a face that was more familiar to him than his own by now. Finally he found her, at a table by herself in the back corner, chin propped up on her hand. He'd spent enough time watching her read over the years to see that while there was a thick and dusty tome laid open in front of her, she wasn't absorbing a word of it.

He stepped into the small circle of brightness radiating from the table lamp, and the sound of his footsteps made her look up, startled and dismayed. Quickly she shut the book and shouldered her bag, but Ron grabbed the bag's strap as she tried to stand up. "I just wanna talk." he whispered.

"Shh!" she scolded, although his voice had been quiet. In Madam Pince's library, even the barest of whispers were considered a distraction, and Hermione was, of course, a stickler for library rules.

"I wanna talk." Ron said again, in an even lower voice. He sat down beside her and slowly let go of her bag, holding his hands out in front of him in a calming gesture.

"Fine." Hermione sighed, setting her bag back down and busying herself with smoothing down her frizzy hair. "What do you want to talk about?" She wasn't meeting his eyes.

"You kissed me." Ron answered without preamble.

She looked up, clearly startled by his bluntness. Even in the dim light Ron could see the blush staining her cheeks. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

Ron swallowed hard. She was _sorry_? "Well, why'd you do it then?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse with disappointment.

She must have taken it for anger because tears suddenly welled in her eyes. Grabbing her bag again, she stood up. "I don't know! I didn't mean to, okay? I just, I saw you lying there, and I was worried about you-" Her voice had grown louder and more watery, and Madam Pince herself hurried over from the next aisle to shush her.

Hermione sank back into her seat, and both teens shrank back and apologized under the librarian's withering glare. When she left, they sat side by side in silence for a long moment.

"Madam Pomfrey didn't give me the potion." Ron said quietly.

"I... I thought, maybe... that's what happened." she said, biting her lip, her features twisting into an unreadable expression.

Ron leaned forward despite feeling the heat rushing to his ears. "I... I know you know what that means."

Hermione didn't say anything for what felt like minutes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Ron summoned his courage and grinned at her. "For the same reason you didn't tell me?" he guessed boldly.

"Because lately I've been spending all my time with Lavender's tongue in my mouth?" she shot back promptly and pointedly.

Ron choked back a laugh as she folded her arms across her chest with a self-satisfied expression, knowing that she had him there. "Not exactly." he conceded. "Because... because you're my best friend. And because I always thought that, maybe... Viktor Krum... or, or Harry-"

"Honestly, Ron!" she cut him off. "I've loved you for years. Not Viktor Krum, and certainly never Harry!"

Ron could only stare at her. "What did you say?"

"I... said... Not Harry..." she said, meeting his eyes with a feeble smile.

That was good enough for Ron, and he felt he owed it to her to say something too. "Well, you already know that I love you... the potion, right? And I, er, I have for a long time too. Probably since second year." He couldn't stop grinning; he wondered if the smile would be permanently plastered to his face.

She was evidently pleased, since she just managed to stifle what Ron could only describe as a giggle. "You have _not_, Ronald Weasley."

"Have." Ron said, realizing with a heady feeling that he was _flirting_with Hermione. "You're the only girl I've ever burped slugs for."

Now Hermione was grinning too. Merlin, her smile was beautiful. "_That_was an accident." she reminded him, prodding him in the chest. "You didn't mean to do it!"

"I meant to defend your honor." he pointed out, reaching up and trapping her hand against his chest with his own larger one, and feeling grateful and emboldened when she didn't pull away.

He was rewarded with another blush. "Your chivalry was appreciated." she said. She was leaning forward slightly, and he wondered if she was doing it consciously.

Whether she was or not, Ron took it for the opportunity that it was. He bent forward as well, cupping her face with his free hand. He heard her breath hitch as he touched her and looked at her in wonder. "Thanks for saving me from the love potion, Hermione." She raised her eyebrows and he added, "No, really. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Hermione breathed, as he leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her.

The kiss was just as chaste as their first, but now time seemed to stop, the moments stretching on and on... Ron had no idea how long they'd been kissing when she finally pulled away, flushed and smiling, and (he was happy to see) not looking at all apt to run away this time.

"Well..." she said, looking a bit flustered, as though her thoughts had been scattered and she was hunting for words. "Well, someone had to do something, it wasn't working for Lavender." she finally came out with. A hint of bitterness had crept into her voice, and Ron could tell that despite his confessions, despite the way he kissed her, there was still something bothering her... and he thought he knew what.

"Well, thanks for trying before Harry." Ron joked, and she smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes. He sighed. "Hermione, I have to tell you something."

She raised her eyebrows and nodded for him to go on.

"I... I only went out with Lavender because I thought it might make you jealous." Ron confessed in a rush. "I know I'm nothing special, but I just thought that... that if you saw that Lav fancied me, you'd see me as... as something more than just your friend."

Hermione frowned. "But you _are_ something special." she said, and he felt his chest tighten, as though she had physically taken his heart in her hand and squeezed it. Before he could say anything, she continued, "_You're _the one who only saw _me_ as a friend. I mean, back in fourth year you made it sound like it was impossible that _any_ boy would want to take me to the ball, let alone _you_."

"I was stupid in fourth year." Ron said softly. "Hell, I've always been stupid."

"I didn't say that!" Hermione said. "I thought we were past all this, Ron. I thought, when I asked you to Slughorn's party, that it meant... you know, a proper date. I thought you understood how I felt about you."

"Hermione-" Ron breathed.

"But then you started dating Lavender." she went on, "I mean, I _thought_ you might be trying to make me jealous, but then you stayed with her for weeks, and then _months_, and I eventually thought... well, that I was mistaken, that maybe you really _did_ love her." Her voice wavered slightly. "And then you took the love potion, and I thought, when she kissed you... it would prove everything. It would prove that I didn't have a chance anymore."

"No." Ron said hoarsely, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her palm. "No, no. It's always been you, Hermione. I only kissed Lavender to make you jealous, but then I couldn't figure out how to break up with her without hurting her feelings... Suppose Romilda took care of that for me, yeah?" he finished with a hopeful smile.

Hermione shook her head fondly. "You _know_ you've got to end it with her _properly_, Ron." she said. "At least, you do if you want to come to Professor Slughorn's next party with me."

Ron grinned at her, feeling as if a huge weight had just lifted off his chest- the secret of his feelings for Hermione. "Was that an invitation?" he asked. "Because, you know, the last time you asked me to one of Slughorn's parties, you weren't exactly _clear_, I mean, you could have been a little more _precise _as to-"

Hermione stood up, rolling her eyes as she hefted her bag over her shoulder, and leaned in towards him, cutting him off. "_As my date_." she whispered into his ear, the feel of her hot breath causing a blush to spread all the way down his neck. Then, with a mischievous little smile, she flounced out of the library without looking back. Eyes wide, he leaned all the way back in his chair to watch her go, both unwilling and completely unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face.

"_Bloody hell._"

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><p>AN: The end! If you enjoyed it at all, please leave me a review. Thanks so much for reading!


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